Vis arrives at Governance’s Alta Semita compound for the day of his induction and Placement carrying both dread and resolve. Because he ceded to Eidhin the night before, Vis feels physically heavy, mentally dulled, and painfully aware that part of himself is missing, but he believes this sacrifice is the only way to pursue justice for Callidus and the deaths on Solivagus. At the compound, the gates are barred after his arrival, his lictor Darius is dismissed, and Callidus’s sister Livia leads Vis underground, revealing that an unexpected interview will take place before his ceremony.

In a locked room, Vis meets an elderly Sextus called Quaestor. Quaestor first makes Vis sign a Silencium, then takes a blood sample; Vis realizes Emissa was right that Governance intended to test him, and he quietly depends on his prior ceding to Eidhin to hide the truth. When the sample raises no alarm, Quaestor shifts to a different kind of examination, setting up a game of Foundation and beginning a long, opaque interview.

While the two play, Quaestor subjects Vis to a strange mix of riddles, personal questions, abstract prompts, Vetusian words, unfamiliar banners, and unsettling artwork. Vis cannot determine the purpose of the test, which increases his anxiety, and his dulled state makes it harder to think ahead in the game or judge how much his answers reveal. He eventually loses at Foundation, gives a final answer about life and losing despite making no mistakes, and is dismissed without explanation, still uncertain whether he has passed or what Governance was truly measuring.

Back in the courtyard, Tertius Ericius confirms that the interview was requested by Princeps Kavius, though he does not know its contents because of the Silencium. Ericius then presents Vis with a strong, carefully vetted group of Septimii who will form his pyramid and improve his chances in Placement. Vis is unsettled to discover that Livia is one of them, which makes clear that Ericius both trusts her ability and wants someone close to him watching Vis if necessary.

The ceding ceremony follows in public view, with spectators looking on from the balconies. One by one, the Septimii clasp Vis’s hand and freely give their Will, beginning with Linus Manius; each transfer makes Vis feel sharper, stronger, and physically restored, but it also horrifies him because he can sense that he is taking something real from each person. Livia gives her Will last, cold and controlled, and Ericius formally welcomes Vis into Governance before sending him, Livia, and Darius on to Placement at another location, leaving Vis newly empowered, morally shaken, and worried about how Eidhin will reconnect with him outside the sealed compound.